January 5, 2011 Ride in Gyoda and Kumagaya

Disappointing delay in vote reform February 23, 2012

The political parties will likely miss an important deadline in their efforts to reapportion Lower House seats. In March 2011, the Supreme Court ruled that the August 2009 Lower House election was held unconstitutionally because of a large disparity in the value of one vote between depopulated rural areas and populated urban areas. Under a relevant law, Satu […]

Ikea to open first Kyushu outlet February 23, 2012

Ikea Japan, the Japanese arm of Sweden's Ikea self-assembly furniture group, said Wednesday it will open a store in the city of Fukuoka on April 11, its first retail outlet in Kyushu. The sixth store to be set up in Japan will offer 9,500 items on its 30,000-sq.-meter floor space, according to Ikea Japan, based in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture.

Test faulty; no warp speed yet to disprove Einstein February 23, 2012

Researchers have found a flaw in the technical setup of an experiment that startled the science world last year by appearing to show particles traveling faster than light. The problem may have affected measurements that clocked subatomic neutrino particles breaking what Nobel Prize-winning physicist Albert Einstein considered the ultimate speed barrier. […]

Rare earth recycling bill in works February 23, 2012

The government has drafted a bill requiring consumers to make efforts to recycle used electronic products containing rare earth and other metals essential in producing hybrid motor vehicles and precision electronics, official sources said Thursday. The government intends to secure the supply of rare earth, rare metal and precious metal resources through the […]

Researchers locate birthplace of eels February 23, 2012

Japanese researchers said Thursday they have located an area where "ma-anago" (real Japanese conger) lay their eggs, retrieving young fish 380 km south of Okinotorishima Island in the Pacific Ocean. The egg-laying site should be along a ridge at the bottom of the ocean about 100 km south of where the fish were found, based on the direction of the c […]

January 5, 2011 Ride in Gyoda and Kumagaya

Posted on January 7, 2012 by dannycycle

I pulled out my Jintensha Sanpo guide book and tried to follow some recommended routes in Gyoda and Kumagaya and succeeded in missing a number of important turns and landmarks. I did manage to connect both rides via route 125. I also used my new GPS receiver on a day-long ride for the first time. I plan to go back to Kumagaya next week and take more time to understand the ride which takes in a lot of countryside including the Arakawa and Shinrin Koen in Higashi Matsuyama. Here is the route I took, starting at Gyoda Shi station on the Chichibu Tetsudo line and finishing up at Kumagaya station. Both routes have local historical points that seem worth seeing.

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Here are some pictures.

: Tenbodai in Kodai Hasu No Sato 古代蓮の里 in Gyoda City

: I learned a very important lesson: adding stew to an onigri is a bad idea.

: It’s hard to get a proper exposure on Mt. Fuji.

: There is a speaker at this crossing in Gyoda that suddenly pipes up when pedestrians cross the sensor: Abunai!!!! Look left and right before crossing.